The Avalanche on Saturday got the goalie ranked as the best in North America for his age group, in the second round of the NHL draft in Los Angeles. But Calvin Pickard probably isn’t the best goalie in the house when he goes home for holidays. Not yet anyway.
Calvin is the second Pickard to go in the first two rounds since 2008. His older brother, Chet, was selected 18th overall by Nashville that year.
“We both developed the liking for the position, and both decided to be goalies at around 9 years old,” said Pickard, who was selected 49th overall by Colorado, one of seven picks the Avs made on Day 2 of the draft. “We both haven’t regretted it at all.”
Although he wasn’t the first goalie taken in the draft, Pickard was ranked No. 1 among North American netminders by the NHL’s Central Scouting bureau. Although his win-loss record wasn’t good with Seattle of the Western Hockey League last season (16-34-12), he had a solid .914 save percentage — always the statistic valued most with a goalie.
Avalanche chief scout Rick Pracey couldn’t help but chuckle at throwing out the “we can’t believe he was still available” cliche about Pickard.
“We were very surprised to still see him on the board,” Pracey said. “He was a goal-tender we had a tremendous amount of interest in. His save percentage, on a team that was substantially under .500, was a key factor, knowing how much he was impacting the game and giving his team a chance to win day in and day out.”
Pickard, listed at 6-feet, 195 pounds, catches left and led all WHL goalies with 3,688 minutes and 2,207 saves. Pracey called him “a workhorse.”
“I think my best attribute would have to be my mental toughness,” said Pickard, 18. “Playing calm, cool and collected in the net — I think it rubs off on your teammates. I think my practice habits — fighting hard for every puck in practice — is another really good attribute. Things to work on? I’d say you can always get quicker.”
Pickard will attend training camp in September with the Avs but is likely to play another season at Seattle.
The Avs took 5-11, 179-pound left wing Michael Bournival with their third selection. Bournival, 18, had 58 points in 60 games for Shawinigan of the Quebec Major Junior League.
“Speed was a big part of the attraction,” Pracey said.
The Avs took Belleville (OHL) defenseman Stephen Silas, considered a good puck- moving blue-liner, with its fourth pick. Colorado took another goalie with their fifth choice, Sami Aittokallio of Finland, a player Pracey said may take some time to develop but has strong potential.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com and
